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Warden
The Wardens of House Pyxis are the guardians of the Lodestone, giving their lives to protect, manage and explore its myriad secrets. While Wardens are not inherently deemed any more or less senior within the House's flat hierarchy, they are often viewed as having a wisdom worthy of a higher respect. Where a Void-Touched can offer the knowledge one can only attain at the farthest reaches of the stars, the advice of a Warden can often be the calm, contemplative hand on the shoulder of an excitable Seeker. There are roughly 5000 Wardens at any given time, the vast majority living on Lodestone. They directly manage the Citizens of Lodestone. History As the structures began to crystallise in the newly formed House Pyxis, a clear split developed between the explorers of the house. Most were eager to disappear off into the sector, leaving no stone unturned in the search for further discovery. Many of these Seekers were already making preparations to leave Lodestone, or had already gone. However, others were fascinated by the wild and untamed discovery that was the Lodestone and the Labyrinth. Beyond this, the new homeworld of the House needed management. As members of the house began to vanish off into the void, the Wardens formed under the leadership of Granny Pyxis. The Wardens' first task was to begin serious reconstruction of the Lodestone. The Pyxis homeworld would take over two years to become legitimately habitable.While much of the damage was superficial, there were several critical failures that had to be addressed. In addition, after the discovery of Lodestone's drive system, it became clear that it would need its own food supply due to the sudden and unexpected shortages caused by its shifting position in spikespace. It was on these twin needs- reconstruction and agriculture -that the dual nature of the Wardens was built. While of course the Wardens wanted to explore the Lodestone's Labyrinths, biodomes and buttons, they also had to deal with matters of administration in order to survive. The Warden's Bargain When a Pyxis declares their intention to become a Warden, they must make a Bargain with Granny Pyxis. This deal balances their rights in exploration and responsibilities in the administration of Lodestone. Often negotiations can last days or weeks, the shape of the bargain shifting until it is acceptable to both parties. It is exceptionally rare for negotiations to break down completely, but it has been known to happen. The overwhelming success rate of these is often attributed to the diplomatic skills of Granny Pyxis, though some have questioned this assessment on the grounds that she often negotiates large amounts of the bargain through intermediaries due to her busy schedule. Nevertheless, Granny always meets every new Warden and is known to intervene more heavily in more complex negotiations. Usually a Warden will have a job which is viewed as 'boring' to balance out a more exciting responsibilities. For instance, a Warden may be obligated to administer a section of Lodestone's farming facilities while being given the right to survey a biodome. This means that for every adventure a Warden has spelunking in the Labyrinth or experimenting with the properties of Lodestone's gravity is usually balanced by a hefty amount of hard graft administering customs forms or overseeing the Lodestone Militia. This lifestyle is viewed by other Pyxis as one of impressive moderation, leading to the reputation of Wardens as wise leaders. Often multiple Wardens will have the same rights and responsibilities. Wardens often cooperate in their exploration of Lodestone, or manage customs at the same docks. Granny Pyxis leaves the exact division of labour up to the Wardens in question. In addition, some Wardens have bargains which blur the lines between rights and responsibilities. The most notable of these are most Lore Wardens and Helm Wardens. Lore Wardens manage the Pyxis Archive, which presents a deeply craved opportunity for study. Similarly, Helm Wardens wield one of the most fantastic and least understood powers in the sector. Many young Pyxis dream about becoming a Helm Warden some day. It is possible for a Warden to renegotiate their bargain. If they have become more socially influential or the importance of one of their rights or responsibilities has waxed or waned they may seek to shift the bargain more to their favour. However, Granny Pyxis can also seek a renegotiation. Many Pyxis who have found themselves in cushy Bargains have found themselves unceremoniously called in to a meeting with Granny to be told in no uncertain terms that they will be taking on more work. Structure The Wardens are organised into six Contingents based on their responsibilities: * Aegis - Coordinators of medical and emergency services, such as hospitals and fire response * Helm - Management of the Lodestone Engine and the decision as to when to make everybody's maps wrong * Keep - Coordination of infrastructure, zoning, divisions, civil engineering and the management of land * Levy - Coordination of resources, most crucially the raising of customs charges at the docks, but also ensuring that Lodestone is well enough stocked to survive potentially becoming cut off from the sector by means of production, imports and stockpiles * Lore - Coordination and oversight of education and research institutions and stewardship of the Lodestone Archive * Order - Coordination of the Lodestone Watch and liaison with the Crux presence on Lodestone Wardens are organised in a flat hierarchy, in line with the House at large. This naturally presents a unique difficulty for the management of Lodestone. Coordination between Wardens is vital to the management of the planetoid. The solution is twofold. Firstly, some Wardens' responsibilities encompass limited permanent logistical tasks. However, the majority of inter-Warden coordination is undertaken by the six High Wardens. These Wardens lose their old responsibilities and take on the job of coordinating their contingent, with the assistance of an assigned group of Citizens. High Wardens also attend Lodestone High Tea, representing the interests of their contingent and taking the decisions of the Tea back to be enacted. High Wardens actually take the 'High' in their name from the High Tea, not any position of authority. The House knows that this is misleading to outsiders, and therefore keeps using the nomenclature. Each High Warden is selected by Granny Pyxis at the beginning of the year by being invited to High Tea. Each contingent votes at the beginning of the year and presents their first choice to Granny, with the expectation that they will receive the invite. However, it is Granny's choice who to invite to her tea party and she has been known to invite a Warden who received so few votes as to come into fifth place. This is a politically difficult move to make and often leads to significant fallout. However, Granny doesn't like to take tea with people she doesn't care for and is willing to spend political capital to avoid it.Category:House Pyxis